30 editor picks across Greece.
30 greek restaurants worth the trip across Greece, editor-ranked. All cuisines in Greece.
Diporto on Sokratous and Theatrou has poured Attic retsina from barrels since 1887, a basement koutouki in Athens with no sign and a handful.
OrderRevithia chickpea stew, sardines and a small glass of retsina from the barrel.
TipLunch only from late morning until the pans empty, often by 17:00; no menu, no English spoken.
Peskesi cooks Cretan recipes from its own farm at Haraso inside a restored stone mansion in central Heraklion. Book ahead, the room fills nightly.
OrderSfakiano lamb, then the carob mousse to finish
TipAsk for the olive oil tasting. The kitchen is supplied by its own farm at Haraso, and the oils are poured alongside rusk.
Peskesi is the Cretan kitchen Heraklion gets judged by, rebuilding near-lost island recipes with produce grown on the restaurant's own farm.
OrderSfakiano lamb, then the carob mousse to finish
TipAsk for the olive oil tasting. The kitchen is supplied by its own farm at Haraso, and the oils are poured alongside rusk.
Mavro Provato in Pangrati Athens is the daily mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking, Greek wine by the glass and a sidewalk of regulars.
OrderThe smoked aubergine, the saganaki and a half-litre carafe of house white.
TipBook three days ahead for dinner; lunch tables on the pavement are walk-up after 14:00.
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani on Sokratous is the Athens deli-mezedopoleio for Asia Minor cured meats: Karamanli pastourma, sausages and small plates.
OrderThe Karamanli pastourma board with sheep cheese and a carafe of tsipouro.
TipClosed Sundays. The deli counter runs 08:00-21:00 if you want to take meats home with you.
Delta at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Athens-Kallithea holds two Michelin stars and a Green Star for fermentation-led Greek cooking.
OrderThe full twelve-course tasting menu with the optional wine pairing.
TipBook a month ahead; the architecture is the warm-up so allow time for the foundation walk.
Merastri has cooked over a wood oven in Heraklion since 1998, closing lamb in the fire for hours and finishing pork fillet with staka and oven potatoes.
OrderArnaki ofto, milk-fed lamb held in the wood oven
TipDinner only from 18:00, and the courtyard tables go first at weekends. The Cretan list is worth an extra glass.
Merastri is the wood-oven address in Heraklion for an unhurried Cretan dinner, from lamb closed in the fire to a long list of island bottles.
OrderArnaki ofto, milk-fed lamb held in the wood oven
TipDinner only from 18:00, and the courtyard tables go first at weekends. The Cretan list is worth an extra glass.
Chef Giannis Loukakis's Ladadika restaurant operates at the creative edge of northern Greek cooking. Kitchen leans market-driven creative greek.
Chef Manolis Papoutsakis opened Charoupi in 2017 to bring Cretan ingredients and technique to Thessaloniki. Kitchen leans cretan modernist. At Doxis 4.
Mourga straddles the boundary between casual and fine dining: handwritten menus, organic-market sourcing, and a kitchen with genuine creative ambition.
Karavitis in Pangrati has cooked Athens taverna food since 1926, a rustic courtyard with barrels of house wine and the bekri-meze stew that defines the room.
OrderThe bekri meze stew with stuffed vine leaves and a carafe of the house red.
TipNo reservations are taken; arrive before 21:00 on weeknights and before 20:30 on Saturdays.
Hytra at the Onassis Cultural Centre is one Michelin star for contemporary Greek cooking with a top-floor view across Athens to the Acropolis in warm weather.
OrderThe seasonal tasting menu; the rooftop summer terrace opens June through September.
TipThe seventh-floor summer bar is a separate booking from the winter ground-floor dining room.
CTC in Kerameikos is Alexandros Tsiotinis's one Michelin star for creative Greek cooking, in a converted post-industrial space west of central Athens.
OrderThe chef's tasting menu with optional wine pairing from the all-Greek list.
TipThe dining room is small and the kitchen seats are the best in the house, ask when booking.
Parasties runs an open wood fire opposite the Historical Museum in Heraklion, turning out smoked steak, big pork fillets and long-cooked Cretan plates.
OrderSmoked steak straight off the open wood fire
TipSit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Parasties has cooked Cretan food over live fire in the centre of Heraklion since 1999, and is one of the city's steadiest special-occasion rooms.
OrderSmoked steak straight off the open wood fire
TipSit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Olympos Naoussa reopened in 2022 after thirty years in a 1926 building on Nikis Avenue. Located in Waterfront. Priced at €€€. Kitchen leans modern greek.
OrderChargrilled shrimps with pastrami, Mount Athos cod with fennel
The 1926 waterfront landmark reopened in 2022 as one of the city's most ambitious restaurants under FNL-recognised chef Dimitris Tasioulas. Family-friendly.
Mavro Provato in Pangrati is the daily Athens mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking with regulars on the pavement from 14:00.
OrderThe smoked aubergine, the saganaki and a half-litre carafe of house white.
TipBook three days ahead for dinner; lunch tables on the pavement are walk-up only from 14:00 onwards.
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani on Sokratous is the Athens deli-mezedopoleio for Asia Minor cured meats: Karamanli pastourma, sausages and small plates.
OrderThe Karamanli pastourma board with sheep cheese and a carafe of tsipouro.
TipClosed Sundays. The deli counter runs 08:00-21:00 if you want to take meats home with you.
Diporto on Sokratous and Theatrou has poured Attic retsina from barrels in Athens since 1887, a basement koutouki with no sign and a handful of daily dishes.
OrderThe revithia chickpea stew, sardines and a small glass of retsina from the barrel.
TipLunch only from late morning until the pans empty, often by 17:00; no menu, no English spoken.
Taverna tou Oikonomou in Ano Petralona is the Athens mageirio that has cooked home-style food since 1930, with 15 to 20 daily dishes brought out of the pan.
OrderAsk what came out of the pan today; the daily stew with a glass of the house red.
TipNo microwave and no menu; you point at the trays. Closes when the pans run out, often by 22:00.
Soil in Pangrati is Tasos Mantis's one Michelin star plus Green Star for sustainable Greek cooking with Nordic discipline and a fully seasonal carte.
OrderThe full tasting menu; the kitchen runs on what arrived that morning from small farms.
TipThe Green Star menu skews vegetable-forward; flag allergies and preferences when booking.
Birdman on Voulis is chef Ari Vezene's Japanese-Greek robata grill: a long open counter for yakitori, kushiyaki and dry-aged niku with Greek seafood.
OrderThe neck-to-tail yakitori with a few skewers of seasonal seafood from the robata.
TipCounter seats see the cooking; book a side seat for two and order across the menu.
The Walls plates crab samosas, duck and sea bream in a garden inside the Venetian walls of Heraklion, the city's most composed modern Greek cooking.
OrderCrab-stuffed samosas, then the duck
TipThe dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
Erganos has fed a mostly local room beside Kazantzakis park in Heraklion since 1986, with goat, meatballs and a long list of Cretan vegetable plates.
OrderBite-sized sfakianopites with cheese and honey
TipThe taverna sits beside Kazantzakis park, a short walk uphill from the Archaeological Museum.
Erganos is the taverna Heraklion locals default to, a 1986 dining room beside Kazantzakis park with goat, keftedes and honeyed sfakianopites.
OrderBite-sized sfakianopites with cheese and honey
TipThe taverna sits beside Kazantzakis park, a short walk uphill from the Archaeological Museum.
The Walls is the most technical cooking in Heraklion, a garden dining room inside the Venetian ramparts, run as a modern Greek gastrobistro.
OrderCrab-stuffed samosas, then the duck
TipThe dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
SinTrofi's zero-waste philosophy shapes kitchen and cellar: the menu changes daily by season and market availability, as does the biodynamic wine list.
OrderDaily seasonal small plates, Biodynamic wine pairings
Mezen's never-ending philosophy: small plates arrive continuously until you signal otherwise. The tiny Rogoti Street location runs no reservations.
OrderFried red mullet, Kokoretsi of snapper, Calamari carbonara
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